We all know, more often than not, it usually takes a woman to really get stuff done.
So, fittingly, tomorrow afternoon at LTV Studios in Wainscott the League of Women Voters of the Hamptons, Shelter Island and North Fork will host “The Other November Decision: New York State and the Equal Rights Amendment,” a diverse, informative and nearly all-women run program slated to highlight, educate and discuss a new equal rights amendment to the New York State constitution.
For those who don’t know, back in January the state legislature passed the Equal Rights Amendment in its second consecutive session, thus officially bringing the amendment to New Yorkers to vote on this year. According to a press release from the League, the amendment would create new protections for groups that have been historically targeted and discriminated against based on age, ethnicity, disability, national origin and sex, including gender identity, pregnancy and pregnancy outcomes, as well as reproductive health care and autonomy.
“Voters may be focused on the presidential vote in this November’s election, and on races for U.S. Senate and U.S. Congress,” says Shelter Island resident and League board member Andrea Gabor, “but we want to bring the public’s attention to another very important item that will be on the ballot — New York State’s new equal rights amendment.”
Set to occur from 1 to 5 p.m., tomorrow’s event will include a panel discussion and Q&A, featuring a line-up of women politicians and advocates from across the East End, New York City and beyond. Moderated by Gabor (who also serves as a Bloomberg professor of business journalism at Baruch College in Manhattan), the panel is slated to include Laura Harding, president of ERASE Racism, a Long Island non-profit, South Carolina State Senator Sandy Senn, (who just last year, along with her constituents, received the JFK Profile in Courage Award for forming a bi-partisan coalition to filibuster a near-total abortion ban in their state) and retired New York State Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney, “a champion of the ERA,” according to a press release from the League.
In addition to the panel, the event will also feature a few short film screenings, music from New Orleans-style swing band The HooDoo Loungers and a spoken word performance by Kate Mueth, founder and artistic director of the Neo-Political Cowgirls. Other presenters will include OLA Eastern Long Island executive director Minerva Perez, Shinnecock Nation member Rainbow Chavis and Hampton Bays community leader Marissa Velasquez-Rosante. There’ll be complimentary wine from Channing Daughters and Suhru Wines, with food and beverages from Insatiable Eats available for purchase.
While the National League of Women Voters was formed over a century ago in 1920, the League of Women Voters of the Hamptons started in 1977, eventually expanding in 2020 to include Shelter Island and the North Fork. Past events from the League have run the gamut, ranging from hosting political debates, offering virtual programs at local libraries to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th amendment, to recreating a suffrage rally comprised of 200 women — all in white and donning gold “Votes for Women” sashes — in East Hampton back in 2017 that was accompanied by Governor Kathy Hochul, who at the time was chair of the state’s Suffrage Centennial Commission.
The League also hosted the dedication of a Pomeroy Foundation Historic Suffrage marker in front of the home of East Hampton suffragist May Groot Manson, one of the original organizers of a rally within the village at the turn of the last century.
“Throughout the years, the League, on the local, state and national levels has remained a non-partisan grassroots volunteer organization, believing that ‘democracy is not a spectator sport,’ encouraging the informed and active participation of citizens in government, and influencing public policy through education and advocacy,” says Arlene Hinkemeyer, vice president of the League.
Admission to tomorrow’s event is free, but registration is highly recommended. Get it done here.
